My Teacup

I was once a subscriber to Missouri Star Quilt Company’s Block magazine. The magazines I received are still resting on the reclaimed cabinet in my office. Shown below are some of them.

Some of the Block magazines that I own

I’ve spent many hours browsing the pages of each one of those books. On the back covers I wrote the names of the quilts I might oneway like to make.

Back of Block Magazine

One of the many quilts I fell in love with was the Teacup quilt, published in the Fall Vol 1 Issue 5 magazine. As you can see by the above photo it was one of the projects I listed on the back cover.

The Block magazine that has the Teacup pattern

Let’s Make It!

Having fallen in love with the Teacup pattern I set-out to make one for myself. After browsing the Missouri Star Quilt Company’s website I chose a grouping of fabrics to purchase for my project. Buying the fabric, for me, is always the easy part. Finding the time to make it is what’s hard.

I had the fabrics for the quilt sitting in a tub for more than a year. Last summer, on one of my sewing retreats, I finally was able to get started. The quilt was a fun and easy quilt to assemble. Unfortunately the pattern has an error. It wasn’t until I had all of the blocks made that I discovered it.

A Pattern Error!

As I laid out the blocks to decide on their placement I realized I only had half of the blocks the quilt pattern called for. Being puzzled by this revelation I went back to the book to figure out where I went wrong. As I studied the pattern I realized that the quantity of fabric called for in the pattern was incorrect. The pattern listed only one package of 10 1/2″ squares (aka layer cake). In order to make the correct number of blocks I should have purchased two packages.

Letter to the Company

I contacted the company to point out the error. They thanked me for the information and credited my account for $5. I guess the $5.00 was supposed to make me feel better. $5.00 was not going to make it possible for my quilt to ever be the size I was anticipating.

No Longer Available!!!

Since I waited so long to actually start making the quilt the fabrics had since gone out of print and were no longer available. On top of that I had purchased enough fabric to make the quilt backing to the correct size. Obviously I can use the extra fabric on another project, but that’s not the point. Had I known that my quilt would be much smaller I obviously wouldn’t have purchased as much. Thus, their $5.00 compensation paled in comparison to my level of disappointment and the amount of money spent on this quilt.

MSQC’s Pattern Corrections

Missouri Star Quilt Company publishes a list of pattern corrections for its subscriber to refer to. As of today the error that I found is not listed on that Missouri Star Quilt Company’s pattern correction list. I’m disappointed that my revelation has not been shared on their website. If you decide to make the quilt yourself make sure to adjust the amount of fabric that you purchase. Otherwise you too will be disappointed.

Ok, enough about my disappointment! Let’s get back to my very pretty quilt.

Moving On

In December of 2017 I was able to finally find time to finish my Teacup quilt. Using a straight-line geometric pattern, swirls, a paisley design and white thread I quilted my Teacup project on my longarm machine. Here’s how my sweet little quilt looks now.

My Teacup Quilt TopA closeup of the geometric meanderingA closeup of the binding, and border quiltingThe back of my Teacup Quilt

Conclusion

Throwing aside the disappointments associated with my experience, I must say that this darling little project sits very high on my list of favorite quilts. I am so pleased to have it in my arsenal of finished quilts. 🙂

Thank You so much for visiting with me today. I look forward to our next encounter.

Note: At the beginning of this post I mentioned that I was once a subscriber to the Block magazine. My experience with one of their patterns and the company’s failure to correct the issue had nothing to do with cancelling my subscription. I made the decision to stop receiving the magazine because I felt I had more than enough ideas for possible quilts to make in the future; let alone finding the time to make them all. I’ve also found improv quilting to be my preferred avenue to follow. I’m not saying I would never make a pattern quilt again; it’s just not as likely as it once was.

That IS disappointing! I subscribed for a couple of years, but I also no longer subscribe, more because I’m not spending my money for that these days. The quilt did turn out absolutely beautiful, and I can see why you wanted those particular fabrics for it. The backing is perfect, too. I’m glad you were able to get a reasonable quilt, even if not your originally desired quilt.

I have magazines with pages flagged. Little flags all over the place. More ideas and patterns than I could complete in many lifetimes. I’m finding that I like to work from the heart also – just winging it. For several years I had stopped my subscriptions. Slowed down on purchasing books also, as I found I wasn’t using them as often as I thought I would. So many ideas, so little time.

Wow – I am surprised they had such an error. I too used to subscribe and I have a similar collection but then I realized I was just adding to my clutter and stopped my subscription. Thanks for the link about their pattern corrections, I will check out the link before I make any quilts from those booklets. Your teacup quilt is lovely!

Hi Cindy,
It seems that in spite of MSQC you were able to make and complete a really nice quilt! How disappointing that they didn’t acknowledge the printing error and list it as a correction for others. Thank you for all the closeups of your quilting!! You know I’m going to PIN those for future use. I have to study those two different geometric patterns – I LOVE how those turned out, and I KNOW that is something I can actually do myself. How cool, and I really do love the fabrics you chose. I don’t quite see/get the name though . . . but that’s okay too. ~smile~ Roseanne

Roseanne, I was and I’m thankful for that. I haven’t found a use for the extra backing yet but I’m sure it will be put to use. Maybe not too many people have made the pattern. I have a trip to their facility planned in March so maybe I can talk to them about it then. You are very welcome. I’m glad my stitches can help you with future projects. That makes me very happy! I’m not sure about the quilts name either but that’s ok. I am very fond of the quilt and it’s pretty colors. Currently it’s draped over a bench in my entryway for everyone to see. 😁